Obsah

1.

Geography

2.

Population

3.

Political system

4.

Weather

5.

History

6.

Places of interest

7.

National parks

Úryvek

"Geography:
- The UK is made of Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland
-It is situated to the Northwest of the European continent. Its neighbors are Ireland to west and France to south-east. France is only 35 km across the English Channel. The UK is consisted of two big islands and many small ones. The biggest are Great Britain and Ireland. Smaller ones are The Orkneys, The Hebrides, The Shetlands or the Isle of Man.
-In the Great Britain, there are two main regions- Lowlands
-Highlands-isn´t continuous but it is interrupted
with valleys and plains.
The boundary between these two regions runs roughly from New Caste to Exeter.
-In the UK there are some mountain ranges. In Scotland there are the Cambrians with the highest peak Ben Nevis. In England there is mountain range called the Peninnes which is the backbone of England. And in the Lake District there are the Cambrian Mountains.
-Rivers are not very long on the other hand they are quite deep.
Big cities were built on these rivers. London is built on the Themes, Liverpool on the Mersey, Bristol on the Avon and Glasgow on the Clyde.
-the UK is surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Population:
There live about 63 million people. In London there live 7 million people. Most inhabitants live in urban areas. The UK is multicultural country. The biggest ethnic group is native British. The others big ethnic groups are Scottish, Irish, Indians and Pakistanis. The national religion is the Church of England, but there is lots of Muslims and Hindu. People who live in Britain have very good standard of living. Unemployment is very low and the life expectancy is 76 years for men and 81 years for woman. On the other hand 17 % of population is living below the poverty line.

Political system:
-Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy ruled by the Queen Elizabeth, but the leading role has prime minister. Parliament consists of two house
1) the House of Lords-there are aristocracy members who are appointed due to their tittles.
2) the House of Commons-there are voted members of parliament.
- British national flag is sometimes called “Union Jack”. It symbolises the Union of England, Scotland and Ireland. Each country has its cross in the flag: England has St. George’s Cross (white oblong and Red Cross), Scotland has St. Andrew’s cross (blue with white diagonal) and Ireland has St. Patrick’s Cross (white with red diagonal). National anthem is “God Save the Queen!”. Each part of Great Britain also has its own symbol: England has the red rose, Wales has the leek and daffodil, and Scotland has the thistle and Ireland the shamrock.

Weather:
British weather is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and it is very changeable. Mornings are cloudy, but it´s clears up before lunch. The U.K. doesn´t have extreme weather conditions. Summers are cool with temperature around 16 °C; winters are mild around 5°C.
History:
In the 5th century BC settled here Celts in the south of England where were good climatic conditions. Since 40 BC England went under the domination of Rome for 500 years. In this period of time was built the Hadrian´s wall. After the departure of the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons (Jutes, Angles and Saxons) settled in England. For 800 years was England attacked by the Vikings. The last successful invasion was by French speaking Normans led by William the Conqueror who defeated English King Harold in 1066 in the Battle of Hastings. William stabilized English territory. In 1215 was limited power of the king and created first Parliament due to the Magna Charta. The UK has got the oldest Parliament on the whole Word. The War of the Roses was civil war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. In the Lancaster emblem was white rose and in the York was red rose. This war ended accession to the throne by King Henry VIII. who was from Tudor House. He separated religious from the authority of the Pope. After his reign appeared his daughter Queen Elisabeth I. Under Queen Elisabeth I. Britain became a major sea power and in the 16th century established Anglican Church. At the time of her reign England started penetration into North America. Her successor was King of Scotland James I. who united Scotland with England and Wales and joined Stuart House. On James I. were committed a lot of assassinations, but the most famous was attempt to detonate explosives beneath Parliament building by Guy Fawkes. In later years took place a bloody Civil War between Parliament and the Stuart kings. This war ended execution of the king. Britain had got large role in the defeat of Napoleon in 1805 near Trafalgar and 1815 near Waterloo. In the 19th century, of reign Queen Victoria, Britain was colonial and commercial power. Then was created a British community Commonwealth. The UK participated in Second World War against Germany with Winston Churchill in the head of the government where suffered extensive damage after bombing.
Today is Britain a constitutional monarchy where dominates Parliament, but Royal Family has got important place here. State religion is the Anglican Church and in Ireland is Catholic religion."